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Wally Rippel
Wally E. Rippel is a long-time developer and advocate of battery electric vehicles. Wally has a prominent role, labeled as himself, "Research Engineer, AeroVironment," in the 2006 documentary movie ''Who Killed the Electric Car?'', including two brief scenes in the official trailer. In 1968, as an undergraduate student, he built the Caltech electric car (a converted 1958 VW microbus) and won the Great Transcontinental Electric Car Race against MIT. In the 1970s and 1980s, Rippel worked for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory on electric vehicle battery research, among other things. Around 1990, Rippel joined AeroVironment and helped to design the GM Impact, later named the EV1; he had worked on the induction motor for the car before joining AeroVironment. In 2003, he was one of the participants in the mock funeral for the EV1 as GM prepared to collect the last few for crushing. Rippel left AeroVironment in 2006 and joined Tesla Motors, where he continued his lifelong work on the bat ...
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Battery Electric Vehicle
A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that uses electrical energy exclusively from an electric vehicle battery, on-board battery pack to power one or more electric motor, electric traction motors, on which the vehicle solely relies for propulsion. This definition excludes hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs; including mild hybrid, mild, full hybrid, full and plug-in hybrids), which use internal combustion engines (ICEs) in adjunct to electric motors for propulsion; and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and range extender, range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs), which consume fuel through a fuel cell or an ICE-driven electric generator, generator to produce electricity needed for the electric motors. BEVs have no fuel tanks and replenish their energy storage by plug-in electric vehicle, plugging into a charging station, electrical grid or getting a new bat ...
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Who Killed The Electric Car?
''Who Killed the Electric Car?'' is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Chris Paine that explores the creation, limited commercialization and subsequent destruction of the battery electric vehicle in the United States, specifically the General Motors EV1 of the mid-1990s. The film explores the roles of automobile manufacturers, the oil industry, the federal government of the United States, the California government, batteries, hydrogen vehicles and consumers in limiting the development and adoption of this technology. After a premiere at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, it was released theatrically by Sony Pictures Classics on June 28, 2006. A follow-up documentary, '' Revenge of the Electric Car'', was released in 2011. Topics addressed The film deals with the history of the electric car, its modern development, and commercialization. The film focuses primarily on the General Motors EV1, which was made available for lease mainly in Southern California, after t ...
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Caltech
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of Institute of Technology (United States), institutes of technology in the United States that are devoted to the instruction of pure and applied sciences. The institution was founded as a preparatory and vocational school by Amos G. Throop in 1891 and began attracting influential scientists such as George Ellery Hale, Arthur Amos Noyes, and Robert Andrews Millikan in the early 20th century. The vocational and preparatory schools were disbanded and spun off in 1910, and the college assumed its present name in 1920. In 1934, Caltech was elected to the Association of American Universities, and the antecedents of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which Caltech continues to manage and operate, were established between 1936 and 1943 under ...
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Great Transcontinental Electric Car Race
In 1968 the Great Transcontinental Electric Car Race was held between student groups at Caltech and MIT. The Caltech team, led by EV pioneer Wally Rippel, converted a 1958 VW Microbus powered by lead cobalt batteries from Electric Fuel Propulsion Corporation of Detroit. The MIT team converted a 1968 Chevrolet Corvair powered by NiCad batteries. The MIT team raced from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ..., while the Caltech team raced the opposite direction. A network of 54 charging locations was set up along the 3,311-mile route, spaced 21 to 95 miles apart. The race began on August 26, 1968, and ended on September 4. Although the MIT team reached Pasadena first, they were towed part of the way. After assessing pen ...
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in La Cañada Flintridge, California, Crescenta Valley, United States. Founded in 1936 by California Institute of Technology (Caltech) researchers, the laboratory is now owned and sponsored by NASA and administered and managed by Caltech. The primary function of the laboratory is the construction and operation of planetary robotic spacecraft, though it also conducts Earth-orbit and astronomy missions. It is also responsible for operating the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN). Among the major active projects at the laboratory, some are the Mars 2020 mission, which includes the ''Perseverance (rover), Perseverance'' rover; the Mars Science Laboratory mission, including the ''Curiosity (rover), Curiosity'' rover; the ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter''; the ''Juno (spacecraft), Juno'' spacecraft orbiting Jupiter; the ''Soil Moisture Active P ...
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AeroVironment
AeroVironment, Inc. is an American Arms industry, defense contractor headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, that designs and manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Paul MacCready, Paul B. MacCready Jr., a designer of human-powered aircraft, founded the company in 1971 in aviation, 1971. The company is best known for its lightweight Human-powered transport, human-powered and solar-powered vehicles. The company is the US military's top supplier of small drones —notably the AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven, Raven, AeroVironment Switchblade, Switchblade, AeroVironment Wasp III, Wasp and AeroVironment RQ-20 Puma, Puma models. History On January 7, 2024, AeroVironment was Chinese sanctions, sanctioned by the Chinese government due to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. On March 4, 2025, the Ministry of Commerce (China), Chinese Ministry of Commerce placed 15 U.S. entities (including AeroVironment) on its export control list, barring the export of dual-use commodities to that business. Vehicl ...
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Tesla Motors
Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it designs, manufactures and sells battery electric vehicles (BEVs), stationary battery energy storage devices from home to grid-scale, solar panels and solar shingles, and related products and services. Tesla was incorporated in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning as Tesla Motors. Its name is a tribute to inventor and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla. In February 2004, Elon Musk led Tesla's first funding round and became the company's chairman; in 2008, he was named chief executive officer. In 2008, the company began production of its first car model, the Roadster sports car, followed by the Model S sedan in 2012, the Model X SUV in 2015, the Model 3 sedan in 2017, the Model Y crossover in 2020, the Tesla Semi truck in 2022 and the Cybertruck pickup truck in 2023. Tesla is one of the world's most valuable companies in terms of mark ...
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Battery Electric Vehicle
A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that uses electrical energy exclusively from an electric vehicle battery, on-board battery pack to power one or more electric motor, electric traction motors, on which the vehicle solely relies for propulsion. This definition excludes hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs; including mild hybrid, mild, full hybrid, full and plug-in hybrids), which use internal combustion engines (ICEs) in adjunct to electric motors for propulsion; and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and range extender, range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs), which consume fuel through a fuel cell or an ICE-driven electric generator, generator to produce electricity needed for the electric motors. BEVs have no fuel tanks and replenish their energy storage by plug-in electric vehicle, plugging into a charging station, electrical grid or getting a new bat ...
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Tesla Roadster (2008)
The first generation Tesla Roadster is a battery electric sports car, that is based on the Lotus Elise chassis, and was produced by Tesla Motors (now Tesla, Inc.) from 2008 to 2012. The Roadster was the first highway legal, serial production, all-electric car to use lithium-ion battery cells, and the first production all-electric car to travel more than per charge. Tesla sold about 2,450 Roadsters in over 30 countries, ''More than 2,350 units sold through June 2012''. ''Sales during the 3Q 2012: 68 Roadsters and 253 Model S.'' and most of the last Roadsters were sold in Europe and Asia during the fourth quarter of 2012. Tesla produced right-hand-drive Roadsters from early 2010. The Roadster qualified for government incentives in several nations. According to the U.S. EPA, the Roadster can travel on a single charge of its lithium-ion battery pack. The vehicle can accelerate from in 3.7 or 3.9 seconds depending on the model. It has a top speed of . The Roadster's efficie ...
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California Institute Of Technology Alumni
California () is a state in the Western United States that lies on the Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California to the south. With almost 40million residents across an area of , it is the largest state by population and third-largest by area. Prior to European colonization, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America. European exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries led to the colonization by the Spanish Empire. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821, following its successful war for independence, but was ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican–American War. The California gold rush started in 1848 and led to social and demographic changes, including depopulation of Indigenous tribes. It organized itself and was admitted as the 31st state in 1850 as a free state, ...
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American Electrical Engineers
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label that was previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams S ...
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